Speaker Damage

[admin_exported]

Hey everyone, i have recently bought b&w 685 speakers and nad326 amp, this combo was suggested to me and i know the amp is powerful enough for the speakers.

The issue i am concerned with is the speaker cones 'flapping' when low frequencies play through them, i never take the volume past the reccomended level, but i have noticed a smell that comes from the speaker when bass and low frequencies play through them.

So my two questions are, is the smell burning (damage) or could it be a smell that is caused by dust or chemicals that are still clearing from the speaker. Secondly is the cone flap causing damage to the speaker and should i avoid it?

PS is listening to music for long periods eg 6-8+ hours likely to cause damage?

 

[shooter]

First off its quite normal for the drivers to 'flap' at low frequencies they are designed that way and its quite normal so dont worry. Second, listening to music for 8hours a day is fine i quite regularly listen for more that 12, so as before dont worry. Finally the smell, hummm, tricky this one, from my experiance of Bowers they have wadding (foam) innards which has a fireproof chemical makeup. This can smell but its not normal. This could have something to do with it but its hard to say for sure. Have you tried taking them apart? Its quite easy and if there not in warrenty (if they are take them back) its nothing to worry about, i have done it before when i blew crossover from its fixings (dont ask) it could be worth investigating. The only other possibility, has somthing crawled inside??
Thats all i've got.

 

[Anonymous]

its only really on high volumes that it starts to smell, it doesnt make a burning type of smell. it just smells like new car smell almost haha, i havent really pushed them to their max and its usually on more punchy bass songs that the smell appears. anyone got a clue?

thanks for your reply too 🙂

 

[chebby]

Don't spend too long sniffing at un-veneered/un-varnished MDF. It 'outgasses' gradually - and the circulation or ventilation inside a speaker is virtually nil - so you are 'snorting' mildly carcinogenic fumes when you inhale close to the port! (The insides of most speaker boxes are not veneered or sealed.)

This is due to the formaldehyde used in production. It can 'outgass' for many months after the MDF is made.

In a normally ventilated room the concentration of gasses from new, uncoated MDF surfaces are relatively small and are moved out/diluted rapidly, but inside a speaker box with only a small hole and no 'draughts' or flow of air it will build up.

This is possibly part of what you are smelling especially if they are very new.

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:
Don't spend too long sniffing at un-veneered/un-varnished MDF. It 'outgasses' gradually - and the circulation or ventilation inside a speaker is virtually nil - so you are 'snorting' mildly carcinogenic fumes when you inhale close to the port! (The insides of most speaker boxes are not veneered or sealed.)

This is due to the formaldehyde used in production. It can 'outgass' for many months after the MDF is made.

In a normally ventilated room the concentration of gasses from new, uncoated MDF surfaces are relatively small and are moved out/diluted rapidly, but inside a speaker box with only a small hole and no 'draughts' or flow of air it will build up.

This is possibly part of what you are smelling especially if they are very new.

To add to this reasoning: When you are playing low bass, the speaker cone will be making a much bigger excursion to reproduce the longer wave form (more so at higher volumes.) So the speakers will be shifting more air, possibly pushing the fumes out the port with a lot more pressure.

🙂